Original Research Article DOI: 10.5958/2394-6792.2016.00116.2 Indian Journal of Pathology and Oncology, October-December 2016;3(4);627-631 627 Histopathological evaluation of Skin Tumours Rajinder Kaur 1,* Vanita Kumar 2 , Kuldeep Mehra 3 , Neelu Gupta 4 , Amritpal Singh 5 1,3,5 Resident, 2 Professor, 4 Professor & Head, Dept. of Pathology, Sardar Patel Medical College & Associate Group of Hospital, Bikaner, Rajasthan *Corresponding Author: Email: drrajamrit@gmail.com Abstract Introduction: The skin is the largest organ of the body. Skin tumours encompass a wide spectrum and belong to a diverse group of neoplasm rendering the classification difficult. Aim: The aim of our study was to analyse prospectively the distribution of skin tumours with reference to age and sex. Materials and methods: The present study was a prospective study of skin tumours from 1st January 2013 –31st August 2015 at Department of Pathology in Sardar Patel Medical College and associated group of hospitals, Bikaner. The study included all histopathologically confirmed cases of skin tumours. Results: Out of 110 skin tumours, 74 were benign tumours and 36 were malignant. Thus benign tumours were more common than malignant tumours with benign to malignant ratio of 2.05:1. Incidence of epidermal tumours was highest 83 cases (75.45%) followed by adnexal tumours 20 cases (18.18%). The maximum number of benign tumours was found in second and third decade and malignant tumours in seventh decade. Conclusion: Benign tumours were common in younger age group whereas malignant tumors showed an ascending trend in age. Both benign and malignant tumours of skin were common in males than females. Verrucas (31.08%) were the commonest benign tumours followed by squamous papilloma (14.86%). Among the malignant tumours Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) was the commonest (55.55%) followed by Basal Cell Carcinoma (30.55%). Keywords: Age distribution, Sex distribution, Skin tumours. Introduction Skin is the largest organ of the body. It represents a window to the internal well-being or disease. Many internal diseases may manifest themselves in the skin. 1 Skin tumours at time pose a great challenge to surgeons as some of benign tumours can be confused with malignant tumours and it is vitally important to intervene as some can become metastatic resulting in morbidity and mortality. Most of the time clinical diagnosis may not be accurate because of similarity in gross appearance. 2 The knowledge of histopathological patterns can help in prognosis and planning an effective management. 3 We have divided the skin tumours into benign and malignant epidermal, adnexal and melanocytic categories. The aim of our study is to find out the age and sex wise distribution of different tumours of skin. Material & Methods The study was carried out in the department of Pathology, Sardar Patel, medical college and associated group of hospitals, Bikaner from 1st January 2013 – 31st August 2015. This study was hospital registry based prospective study, consisted of analysis of tumours of skin received in the histopathology section of department of pathology. We received a total of 15,958 specimens for histopathology examination during the study period. Cases presented as neoplastic skin lesions was 278 and 122 were non neoplastic lesions. Non neoplastic skin lesions, cysts, mesenchymal tumours, haematological tumours, and skin secondaries were excluded from the study. The study included 110 histopathologically confirmed cases of tumours of epidermis along with melanocytic tumours and appendageal tumours. All the biopsies and resected specimens received in the histopathology section were immediately fixed in 10% formalin for 24 hours. The specimens were examined grossly and sections were taken. Then they were processed and embedded in paraffin wax. Three-five microns thick sections were taken and then stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin stain and evaluated under light microscopy. The tumours were classified according to World Health Organization classification of skin – 2006. 4 Results Out of 110 tumours of skin, 74 were benign tumours and 36 tumours were malignant. Thus benign tumours were more common than malignant tumours with benign to malignant ratio of 2.05:1. Incidence of epidermal tumours was highest 83 cases (75.45%) followed by adnexal tumours 20 cases (18.18%). Maximum numbers of cases among benign tumours were that of wart 23 cases (31.08%) followed by squamous papilloma 11 cases (14.86%). Among malignant tumours incidence of squamous cell carcinoma was highest 20 cases (55.55%) followed by basal cell carcinoma 11 cases (30.55%). In our study tumours of skin were present in all the age groups, though maximum numbers of benign tumours were